This season the Brooklyn Nets are paying homage to one of the boroughs most iconic figures, Christopher Wallace also known as The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, with the team’s 2018-19 Nike City Edition uniform.
The black City Edition uniform, which was unveiled on Thursday, features a multi-color “Brooklyn Camo” pattern that runs down the sides of the jersey & shorts, and along the neck and arm trim, with a desired effect of showing Brooklyn’s diversity.
“The pattern represents the cultural diversity in the borough, which is home to people of all races, religions, and ethnicities, who have one important unifying trait––Brooklyn swagger,” The Nets said in a statement about their City Edition Uniforms.
For those familiar with the Bedford Stuyvesant rapper, the pattern may slightly resembles an image taken in 1996 by photographer Dana Lixenberg of Biggie wearing a Coogi sweater in 1996 for Vibe magazine.
The jersey also shows love to the neighborhood where he grew up with an original *BED-STUY* mark on the jock tag, which was designed by local renowned graphic artist Eric Haze, who is one of the pioneers of New York City’s legendary graffiti culture in the 80’s.
The love for Biggie and his community didn’t stop with the jersey’s as the Nets visited the Christopher Wallace Courts in Bed-Stuy with players D’Angelo Russell and Rodions Kurucs ran a hoops clinic and gifted basketballs to youth from the neighborhood. In the coming weeks the Nets will announce additional community activations in support of the City Edition platform.
The special edition uniforms, which will debut the jerseys on court on Nov. 17 in a matchup against the Clippers at Barclays Center, will be worn for 16 games this season, including the 21 anniversary of the passing of the iconic Hip-Hop star.
On Thursday the Nets and JetBlue have also unveiled a branded plane, “BK Blue.” The all black-and-white aircraft includes the Nets logo on the tail and the silhouette of the skyline of Brooklyn, including the Brooklyn Bridge and Barclays Center, on the fuselage. The aircraft also features the phrase “Spread Love,” tagging the belly of the plane. The event included appearances from Nets Legends, Albert King and Kerry Kittles, Nets’ General Manager, Sean Marks, and BSE Global CEO, Brett Yormark.
